Thursday, May 29, 2025

President Richard Nixon: The Slime of American Bureaucracy (1992)

"RN on the Slime of Bureaucracy" 

Source:Richard Nixon Foundation with a look at President Richard M. Nixon (Republican, California) 37th President of the United States (1969-74) in 1992.

From the Richard Nixon Foundation

From Note: 

"Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist.”

From Note

In case what President Nixon was talking about in 1992, sounds familiar with how President Trump is governing in 2025: 

"Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): Trump established DOGE, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, to spearhead government reform efforts.

Reducing the Federal Workforce: Trump implemented measures to reduce the federal workforce, including a hiring freeze, buyout programs, and a "one-in-four-out" hiring policy (hiring one new employee for every four departures).

Eliminating and Consolidating Agencies and Programs: Trump aimed to streamline government by eliminating unnecessary agencies, advisory committees, and programs, as well as consolidating others.

Deregulation: Trump pursued a "10-to-1" deregulation initiative, requiring the elimination of ten regulations for every new one implemented, to reduce bureaucratic burden.
Reclassifying Federal Employees: Trump sought to reclassify certain federal employees, particularly those in policy-related roles, to make it easier to remove them, according to the White House (.gov).
Modernizing Federal Technology: Trump aimed to modernize federal technology and software to improve efficiency and productivity, potentially through DOGE...

So if you are a political history junky like myself and you are pushing 50, (give or take) what President Richard Nixon was talking about in early 1992 with CSPAN anchor Brian Lamb, sounds very familiar. 

So go up 3 years from when this Lamb-Nixon interview was done in 1992: 

Republicans win back complete control of Congress in November of 1994, take over the Congress during the first week of 1995 (House & Senate) and are already talking about as part of their Contract With America, for the 104th Congress, about: 

streamlining this agency and that department 

eliminating this agency and department 

cutting the Federal Civil Service by this much and eliminating all these Federal jobs, as part of their plan to "return the government to the American people". 

And now that MAGA controls both The White House and Congress, they're trying to put in their own vision of the U.S. Government into place, something that President Nixon was talking about, as President, 55 years ago. 

So I guess my only question for people who believe in this chainsaw approach to government (to paraphrase Elon Musk) would be: what would you do instead? 

In a good year, Congress'a approval ratings is 20%. So you really want to make the Assistant Attorney of the Criminal Division and elected position? Perhaps not that position, just everybody who work for that person? Maybe the Ass. AG's chief of staff, or executive secretary? If you are from my generation, or are older, you remember when Republicans used to claim that America is not a democracy, but a republic. Which is like saying: 

A truck is not a car, it's an automobile. 

Beef is not chicken, it's meat. 

The Atlantic Ocean is not a lake, it's a body of water. 

Well, just like a man could be husband and a father, a country can be both a republic and a democracy. And both cars and trucks are automobiles. Both chicken and beef are meet. And both lakes and oceans are bodies of water. Hopefully these are not newsflashes for anybody who sees this. 

Since really the civil rights movement of the 1960s, we've been a democratic republic. And really since the founding of the American Federal Republic, we've been a democratic republic, according to our Constitution. And just because a country is democratic, doesn't mean that every position in the government is an elected position. 

The thing about American democracy, is accountability. Which means just because a person comes to office, even with a big victory, doesn't mean that person gets to do whatever they want, simply because they were elected. 

And I hate to say this, because I actually have a lot of respect for Richard Nixon when it comes to his intelligence, his vision, the fact that he really is the last of the Progressive Republicans, when you are talking about how he governed as President, (well, George H.W. Bush as well) but President Nixon founded out the really hard way what type of democracy with all our checks and balances, that America really is. 

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Chris Cillizza: Is The Senate Filibuster On The Brink of Extinction?

"Chris Cillizza discusses a New York Times piece by Carl Hulse that argues the Senate filibuster is on the brink of extinction. Cillizza explores this claim by examining a recent, largely unnoticed event: Senate Republicans, led by John Thune, overrode the Senate parliamentarian’s ruling on a California emissions waiver using only a simple majority—despite it traditionally requiring 60 votes due to the filibuster.

This, Cillizza argues, is a major signal that norms protecting the filibuster are weakening. He traces the filibuster’s history, from its formalization in 1917, to threshold changes in 1975, to Democrats and Republicans both carving out exceptions for judicial nominations over the past decade.

He predicts that with key opponents of reform like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema leaving the Senate, Democrats may finally eliminate the legislative filibuster the next time they have a majority. He also flags the upcoming “one big beautiful bill” to fund Donald Trump’s agenda—passed under budget reconciliation rules—as another key test of whether the filibuster will be honored or further eroded."
Source:Chris Cillizza with a look at the Senate cloture rule.

From Chris Cillizza

The sun is finally back out in Washington, so that means it must be another slow news day in the nation's capital, because I'm writing a piece about not just Congress, (which could put any insomniacs convention to sleep) but the Senate filibuster in particular, (which could put any convention of insomniacs conventions to sleep) and the possible future about it. But hey, I'm Congressional junky myself: so what the hell. 

So it only took Chris Cilliza about 7 minutes, or more, of his 10 minute video here, to get into what this is really about. The California environmental laws I believe was just a test, or dry run, a workout, a practice, to get to what Senate Majority John Thune and company are really considering here. The Big Ugly Debt Bomb (that MAGA calls the Big Beautiful Bill) But I have a theory that explains why I think Mr. Cilliza might be wrong here.

So, if you are not asleep yet from this, I congratulate you, because it's important, even if it dull enough to put a team of insomniacs to sleep. But if you are still trying to sleep after seeing this, maybe this will help. I'm just going to give a possible scenario for what could happen if Senate Republicans can't agree on what to cut to pay for the House Republican Big Ugly Debt Bomb and they get stuck somewhere between trying to pay for their own bill and not trying to pay for anything and just putting $3 trillion on the national debt: 

So if that happens and the Senate Parliamentarian rules that this bill violates Congressional reconciliation and the Majority Leader simply just tries to overrule the Parliamentarian with a simple majority, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer still has 1, big, play, in his playbook, that he could call, that every Senate Democrat would back him on and maybe even 2-3 Republicans as well. The Majority Leader brings his motion to the floor to overrule the Parliamentarian on reconciliation, the Minority Leader simply officially objects to that on the floor:

"The Minority Leader can object on the floor if the Majority Leader attempts to override the Senate Parliamentarian with a simple majority vote. The Senate rules, particularly those related to standing rules and cloture, are designed to protect the rights of the minority, and the nuclear option provides a mechanism for them to challenge such actions." 

From the Senate.Gov. 

And guess what: you need 60 votes to overcome any objection on the floor by any Senator, not just the Majority or Minority Leader. 

But here's why I think we may not get to this point: 

Senate Republicans, including Rand Paul, Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley, I believe even Ted Cruz (no one's moderates) are already saying that the House bill can't pass in the Senate. They don't have enough votes to even pass it with 50 senators and the Vice President. They're saying it's too big, borrows too much money. And Senator Hawley, as well as Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski, don't like the Medicaid cuts as well. 

And this could all just be political talk and they could go down faster than a deadman in a championship fight. But even if that last part is true, Chuck Schumer could just object to the overrule motion made by John Thune, to override the Parliamentarian, because their bill violates reconciliation and Thune would need 60 votes to bypass that objection.  

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Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Inside Edition: Donald Trump Pardons Todd & Julie Chrisley

"The Chrisleys are going home. On Tuesday President Trump said he would pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley. The "Chrisley Knows Best" couple was convicted and sentenced in 2022 for their involvement in a multi-million-dollar bank fraud and tax evasion scheme. Julie Chrisley was sentenced to serve in a prison in Kentucky until 2028, and Todd Chrisley was scheduled to serve time in Florida until 2032." 

Source:Inside Edition with a look at Julie & Todd Chrisley, the latest winners of Donald J. Trump's pay to play game. 

From Inside Edition

So Anthony Scaramucci said it best a few weeks ago, I believe on Threads, that Donald Trump gave himself a choice, or perhaps someone suggested this choice to him... that he could either have his trade war and risk ruining the American economy, on his watch, or he could keep his personal, for-profit corruption... but he couldn't have both. Well, unless you are both blind and death (life might actually be pretty good for you right now) or, you've been in a coma the last 4 weeks, (sometimes I wish I could sleep through the Trump presidency as well) the President has sort of paused his trade war, but his personal corruption if anything, has just escalated. 

Who's going to stop the President's personal corruption campaign? 

He probably won't be allowed to run for President again, perhaps doesn't even want too. 

The "Republican Party" is basically invisible right now and the party in charge in Washington, is just DJT's own, political reality TV show. 

The courts and the rest of the executive branch, will probably prevent DJT from becoming a dictator, but thanks to the Supreme Court, no one can stop his corruption and he can't be charged for it later on, because he has absolute, presidential immunity, as President of the United States. 

There really isn't a movie or fictional TV show that one could reference what the Donald J. Trump presidency is like. The closest would be from the 1997 film Wag The Dog. In that film, there was a very unpopular and corrupt President, who just had 1 scandal after another, but somehow survived each 1, until the last 1 happened and his White House thought that would be the scandal that bring the President down. So they consulted with Hollywood to produce some fictional war with Albania to try to distract the country from the President's latest scandal. 

That's Donald John Trump as President of the United States: flood the media and country with one piece of corruption and scandal after another, so no one can just zero in on 1 that could bring him down. You want this man to help you out, it will have nothing to do with you actually being innocent or not, just what you can do, or have done for him. It's his own game of "pay to play". But this is who the country voted for, so the other 51% just has to live with that. Or, I guess we could just try to sleep through it. 

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Ben Meiselas: Fox News PANICS On LIVE TV As Donald Trump LOSES CONTROL

"MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Fox News losing all control has Donald Trump’s idiotic behavior makes it hard for them to try and cover up with their usual tricks." 

Source:Meidas Touch with a look the DJT Party.

From the Meidas Touch

As my colleague Ederik Schneider said yesterday on The New Democrat about the modern "Republican Party": 

"So as Yaron Brook said so himself: "The Republican Party is about nothing. There's no core there, there no principles there... That's a paraphrase, but pretty close. 

If you want me to give the most justifiable defense for why I call the modern "Republican Party" the party of nothing, I'll give it to you anyway: 

"We're all about Donald Trump now, because it's the only way we can stay in power, at all. We abandon Trump, we lose our political careers and the Democratic Left would take over and do even more damage to America". 

I think that would be the most justifiable defense for why old school Republicans, people who pre-Donald Trump, we're real-life Conservative Republicans, could give for why they back Donald Trump... if not 100% of the time, certainly in the high 90s... they don't want to lose their jobs and careers and be forced to work for a living outside of the "Republican Party". 

And perhaps they're thinking: "We just weather the storm here with Trump... he'll be gone, eventually and we can just come back in and start sounding and acting like Republicans again".


I just have a few reactions here. 

Not to Laura Ingraham's credit, but just to show that there's some consistency with her career as a right-wing-populist-propagandist... back in the 1990s, when right-wing-populist radio took off in America, as a response to Bill Clinton becoming President and his Baby Boomers took over the country, that's where Laura Ingraham got her start as a right-wing-populist commentator. I guess after she was a lawyer for a brief period of time. And in her late 20s and 30s, she goes into right-wing-populist radio. So she has a fairly consistent record here, similar with Ann Coulter. 

But for those mainstream Republicans, those people who used to be about traditional values, moral values, character, defending the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, limited government, fiscal responsibility, federalism, and our individual rights... to paraphrase Ederik Schneider: those folks are now just characters on a Seinfeld episode. I mean they're about nothing, other than themselves and keeping their careers in the Republican Party going. 

So when Donald Trump does something stupid, corrupt, looks like he's having health issues beyond just being Donald John Trump everyday, instead of the Fox News Channel covering those things, they just try to come up with another story like: 

"Remember when Joe Biden did or said this... 

Or sone media personality they don't like gives a speech about free speech and democracy being in danger in America, freakin Dana Perino (who used to be a real Republican) comes on the air and essentially calls Wake Forest graduates party animals, who just want to get through the ceremony, so they can hit the nearest bar in Winston Salem.

As Warren G. Bennis once said: Without character, there is no credibility; and without credibility, there is no trust.

That's where Fox News is right now. Everything for them is about getting the latest buck. The only people they pay attention too, are the people who are too dumb and lazy to figure out for themselves what the hell is actually going on in the world. That's the Fox News audience and that's Donald Trump's audience and party, and political reality TV show right now. 

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Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Yaron Brook On The Seinfeld Party: 'We're About Nothing'

"Republicans' Principles have Been Hijacked By Leftists" 

Source:Yaron Brook talking about the Trump Party of nothing.

From Yaron Brook

As Conservative columnist Kevin Williamson argued when he argued that Donald Trump is a Socialist: 

"We are a department store, and we set the price. I meet with the companies, and then I set a fair price, what I consider to be a fair price, and they can pay it, or they don’t have to pay it. They don’t have to do business with the United States, but I set a tariff on countries. … What I’m doing is I will, at a certain point in the not too distant future, I will set a fair price of tariffs for different countries. These are countries—some of them have made hundreds of billions of dollars, and some of them have made just a lot of money. Very few of them have made nothing because the United States was being ripped off by every, almost every country in the world, in the entire world. So I will set a price, and when I set the price, and I will set it fairly according to the statistics, and according to everything else...


And as Kire Schneider wrote about this last week: 

"Look, if this offends any American leftists, especially closeted Socialists... cut back on your daily capitalist coffee take by 50%. You'll relax a lot more and not be so politically oversensitive. If you want to call Trumpenomics fascist, fine. But Communists are fascists as well. 

But what Kevin Williamson is doing here and what I'm arguing as well, is this is how President Trump governs when it comes to economics: "Do things my way, or I'll bring the heavy force of the national big government, down on your ass. And I won't release my giant grip (remember, Donald Trump brags about how big his hands are) until you run your business or organization exactly the way I want you to... 


So as Yaron Brook said so himself: "The Republican Party is about nothing. There's no core there, there no principles there... That's a paraphrase, but pretty close. 

If you want me to give the most justifiable defense for why I call the modern "Republican Party" the party of nothing, I'll give it to you anyway: 

"We're all about Donald Trump now, because it's the only way we can stay in power, at all. We abandon Trump, we lose our political careers and the Democratic Left would take over and do even more damage to America". 

I think that would be the most justifiable defense for why old school Republicans, people who pre-Donald Trump, we're real-life Conservative Republicans, could give for why they back Donald Trump... if not 100% of the time, certainly in the high 90s... they don't want to lose their jobs and careers and be forced to work for a living outside of the "Republican Party". 

And perhaps they're thinking: "We just weather the storm here with Trump... he'll be gone, eventually and we can just come back in and start sounding and acting like Republicans again".

So back in the 1990s, when I was in my late teens and early 20s... I was a huge Seinfeld show fan. I mean I would catch the new episode every week and watch as many reruns as I could. I don't think the show and those characters have aged very well, but I was into that show 25-30 years ago. And the reason why I call the modern "Republican Party" the "Seinfeld Party", is because they're both about 1 thing: they're about nothing. 

If you look at the main characters of the Seinfeld show: 

Jerry Seinfeld 

George Costanza

Elaine Bennis

Cosmo Kramer,

they're all very narcissistic characters, who struggle to care about anyone else. "Struggle:" might be the wrong word... they don't care about anyone else other than themselves. And whole premise of the show is, nothing, really. There's no core to it that brings 1 entire episode together. There maybe 2-3, perhaps even 4 storylines all in the same episode. And there's nothing to being 1 episode all together. Does this sound familiar? 

What does the modern "Republican Party" actually believe in? Some might say Donald Trump. Sure, the hardcore, far-right base for Donald Trump, sees him as Jesus Christ's father. The irony being there that they don't actually understand either Christ or Trump. They're nothing but tools at the hardware store who are there to keep Donald Trump in power and keep his lights on at Mara-E-Lago. They're just his personal piggybank right now thinking that he will always have their back, even after he's broken his. 

But for the career Republicans, backing Donald Trump is nothing more than keeping their own jobs and careers going in the Republican Party. Whatever he says, it's the God's honest truth and must be 100% correct, whatever it is. Which is why "Republican Party" is now the Seinfeld Party: the party about nothing. 

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Kyle Kulinski On President Trump's Defense Budget

"Trump HUMILIATES His Biggest Supporters With 1 Sentence" 

Source:Secular Talk with a look at King of Debt Don.

From Secular Talk

As I said last week when I was talking about Robert Reich's response to the House Republicans Big Ugly Debt Bomb, (that some people call the Big Beautiful Bill): 

"Show me a Socialist who's ever supported any tax relief for anybody and I'll show my ocean beachfront property in Wyoming, with a clear view of Russia from there. Show me government budget cuts that aren't related to defense, intelligence, and law enforcement that any Socialist has ever supported, I'll sell you my winter ski resort in Miami Beach...


And some people might think that's a funny line. And I thank you for that. But Kyle Kulinski just makes my point for me. The only time there's ever in any fraud in the U.S. Federal budget, it has something to do with defense, intelligence, law enforcement, or something in the tax code that allows for Americans (including middle class Americans) to pay fewer taxes... according to leftists, but no one else.

Let's take Mr. Kulinski's whole point about there is waste and fraud in the defense budget... except that he's not breaking any news to anyone who knows anything about the Federal budget in general. They have failed the last 7 or 8 government audits. I mean, we're talking about a 7-8 hundred-billion-dollar U.S. Department of Education, as far as the government's ability to audit its own Defense Department. But to act like that's where all the taxpayer funded government waste is... you obviously don't care how your taxes are spent, or you don't pay any taxes at all. 

And as far as Kyle Kulinski's point about Donald Trump claiming to be the "peace candidate", I think we agree here. If that's what you wanted, Jill Stein has been your presidential candidate in every presidential election since 2012. And lot of people who look at the world exactly the way Kyle Kulinski does, politically, voted for Dr. Stein in every presidential election since 2012. 

Whether we have a Republican administration or a Democratic administration, the defense budget will always represent somewhere around 10% of the Federal budget and 4-6% of the gross national product. And that's what the country wants for the most part as well. So calling Donald Trump a liar... well, about anything he's ever said, ever, in his entire life, that's as newsworthy as saying; "You know what, there's a lot of water in the Atlantic Ocean".

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Friday, May 23, 2025

Dan Mitchell: Decentralize The Welfare State

"Excessive government spending is America’s top fiscal problem.

To be more specific, poorly designed entitlement programs are leading to an ever-growing spending burden that ultimately will either lead to massive tax increases or a debt crisis.

To avoid either of those bad options, we need entitlement reform.

I’ve previously written about how to fix “social insurance” programs for older people, such as Social Security and Medicare.

Today, let’s look at the other category of entitlements, the “means tested” programs for low-income people, such as Medicaid and food stamps.

Let’s start by looking at two charts from the Economic Policy Innovation Center.

The first chart shows how fast spending on health programs is increasing, along with a line showing how fast spending increases if Republicans in Congress succeed with some reforms to the Medicaid program.

The second chart shows how food stamp spending dramatically spiked during the pandemic and has since stayed very high because Biden expanded the program.

Excessive government spending is America’s top fiscal problem.

To be more specific, poorly designed entitlement programs are leading to an ever-growing spending burden that ultimately will either lead to massive tax increases or a debt crisis.

To avoid either of those bad options, we need entitlement reform.

I’ve previously written about how to fix “social insurance” programs for older people, such as Social Security and Medicare.

Today, let’s look at the other category of entitlements, the “means tested” programs for low-income people, such as Medicaid and food stamps.

Let’s start by looking at two charts from the Economic Policy Innovation Center.

The first chart shows how fast spending on health programs is increasing, along with a line showing how fast spending increases if Republicans in Congress succeed with some reforms to the Medicaid program.

The second chart shows how food stamp spending dramatically spiked during the pandemic and has since stayed very high because Biden expanded the program.

Ideally, the way to deal with both programs is to copy Bill Clinton’s successful welfare reform by shifting the programs back to the states.

In the short run, this would mean giving states a “block grant” and giving them the flexibility to figure out the best ways of spending the money.

In the long run, the ideal policy would be to phase out the block grants so that states can decide both how to raise money and how to spend money.

Matt Weidinger of the American Enterprise Institute has a similar perspective. Here are some excerpts from a recent article... 

Source:Dan Mitchell is a Libertarian economist.

From Dan Mitchell

Now if the MAGA Party (that some people still call the Republican Party) was serious about reducing the Federal debt and deficit, (and money grew out of a MAGA hat on the same day) they would be doing something like what Dan Mitchell is talking about here. But MAGA is not even conservative, let alone Republican, at least in ideology. They are their own political party in ideology.

My approach is a little different here.

So what leftists, Libertarians, and real Conservatives call the “welfare state”, I call it the safety net.

Why? Welfare states, especially in the developed world, are universal. They apply to everyone regardless of their income levels. America is obviously more liberal democratic, capitalist, liberal capitalist (if you will) as a country and we expect our people to be able to at least try to become economically independent on their own, before they are eligible for public assistance. Our safety net is there (and I’m sure this sounds corny) to catch people when they fall on hard times. It’s not there to try to micromanage their lives for them.

The American public safety net, in a Federal budget of $7 trillion (for FY 2025) is $1.7 trillion dollars, not including Social Security and Medicare. That might sound like a lot when you are talking about public assistance representing about 1/4 of the entire U.S. Federal budget. But compared with Canada and a lot of places in Europe, where they spend 40, 45, 50%, perhaps more in some places, America still has a pretty small safety net budget.

The U.S. Federal deficit as if right now, is around $1.8 trillion. That’s a huge number, which again begs the question why would a political party that’s supposed to be the center-right conservative party in America, be trying to add another $2 trillion to the deficit. But that’s a different question. But by applying some fiscal federalism to the U.S. public assistance budget, we could literally eliminate the Federal deficit in this country.

And we wouldn’t have to do “balance the budget off the backs of poor people” (as the far-left loves to say) by kicking anyone off these programs who actually needs them and are legally eligible for them:

Just turn them over to the states and local government’s

Give all these government’s an annual appropriation to run these programs themselves

Make all these programs financially self-sufficient

And require everyone on them to get an education and go to work as well.

So why do this, besides to deal with the Federal deficit?

Well, I just explained the fiscal reasons for doing this. And for leftists who are worried that this would give let’s say red states the permission to kick out minorities and poor people… you could have basic Federal standards that prohibits states and localities from kicking people off these programs, simply because they’re on them, or they’re trying to save money. They would be allowed to kick people off because they don’t want to work, or get an education, move into a good community, etc. But not simply just to kick them off.

And last reason for doing this is, as U.S. Justice Louis Brandeis famously and intelligently once said: states are laboratories for democracy. They are the boots on the ground when it comes to public assistance in America. And they don’t need Uncle Sam trying to run Medicaid, or Food Stamps, Public Assistance, job training, Welfare, Unemployment Insurance for them. And with just basic, enforceable, Federal standards, these programs would be a lot more cost-effective, (especially for taxpayers) and would be run a lot better, because the people running the programs, would be in the communities where these programs are run.


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Inside Politics With Dana Bash: ‘A Big Win For Harvard’: Elie Honig Reacts To Judge’s Decision

"A federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s ban on Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students. US District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled hours after the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college filed suit Friday. Harvard argued revocation of its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was “clear retaliation” for its refusal of the government’s ideologically rooted policy demands." 

Source:CNN legal analyst Elie Honig.

From CNN

As Kire Schneider said in speaking about how President Trump practices economics today on The New Democrat: 

"But what Kevin Williamson is doing here and what I'm arguing as well, is this is how President Trump governs when it comes to economics: "Do things my way, or I'll bring the heavy force of the national big government, down on your ass. And I won't release my giant grip (remember, Donald Trump brags about how big his hands are) until you run your business or organization exactly the way I want you to."


I have mixed feelings here. Generally when I think of Harvard and perhaps the broader Ivy League, but especially Harvard, I think of overprivileged, Anglo-Saxon, preppy snobs, and left-wing Hippies, who think they know what's best for everyone else and how everyone else should live, because they're overprivileged and perhaps overeducated and they went to Harvard. And it also makes me want to do my what I could call (at least) sport-on, impression of someone who went to Harvard, with my impression of an Anglo-Saxon, preppy Harvard alumni. 

But like every other private institution in America, or private corporation, that's exactly what they are. It's not the job of Uncle Sam (or in this case Uncle Don) to tell private institutions and corporations, how to run their own organization. Now all these organizations have to follow the same labor, environmental, tax laws, as everyone else. But that's not the same thing as Uncle Don coming in, with his niece Pam Bondi and niece Kristi Doggone Noem  telling Harvard, they're going to take away their Federal funds and international students, because they don't like the politics of their student body or the professors there. 

What we're seeing with the Trump Administration is not how Conservatives and Republicans govern and do business. This is the fascist far-right coming in and not just taking over the Republican Party, but now they're trying to take over the rest of the country, including the private sector, with the force of a national, big government. But Donald Trump was elected twice as President, so the voters are having to live with the consequences of his 80 million voters voting for him. 

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Ben Meiselas: Donald Trump RUNS AWAY To HIDE On FRIDAY On DISASTER NEWS

"MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump running to hide and golf at Bedminster on Friday for the weekend as he sets the country on fire." 

Source:Meidas Touch with a look at The Crazy Don. With any luck... perhaps with all the luck in the world, the President will be too happy in Bedminster to ever come back to Washington.

From the Medias Touch

From NPR News: 

"A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's move to revoke Harvard University's ability to enroll international students.

Harvard filed the lawsuit on Friday morning, just a day after the Department of Homeland Security said it would terminate the school's certification that authorizes it to enroll international students and scholars.

People walk through a gate as they exit Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Trump administration revokes Harvard's ability to enroll international students
According to the university's complaint, this revocation is a "blatant violation of the First Amendment," and a retaliation against Harvard for rejecting "the government's demands to control Harvard's governance, curriculum, and the 'ideology' of its faculty and students."

Before Federal Judge Allison Burroughs issued the temporary restraining order, DHS told currently enrolled visa holders that they "must transfer to another university in order to maintain their nonimmigrant status." Harvard has nearly 7,000 international students, which make up roughly 27% of the student body... 

From NPR News

"Fox News co-anchor Bill Hemmer confronted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday about concerns that President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" could add trillions of dollars to the nation's debt.

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Treasury for comment via email.

Why It Matters

The legislation extended Trump's 2017 tax cuts, reducing taxes for individuals and corporations and adding new exemptions for tipped workers and overtime pay.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, drawing criticism from Democrats and some Republicans who warn the spending cuts included in the bill would be insufficient to pay for the tax cuts and other spending priorities. The potential increase to the country's $36.2 trillion deficit was the primary source of opposition from certain House Republicans.

Hemmer pressed Bessent about the CBO's report during an interview on America's Newsroom Friday morning.

"This bill adds trillions to our debt. How is that acceptable to this administration?" Hemmer asked.

Bessent responded: "You're referring to the CBO scoring, I believe, which is 10-year scoring, and it's D.C.-style scoring. So, we think that we can both grow the economy and control the debt. And what's important, Bill, is that the economy grows faster than the debt."

The treasury secretary added: "So, what I would tell your viewers to focus on is what I'm focused on, is what [former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen] was focused on, is what is the total debt to GDP [gross domestic product] because we can grow our way out of this. That if we change the growth trajectory, of the country, of the economy, then we will stabilize our finances and grow our way out of this."

From Newsweek

So can you now see why Conservative columnist Kevin Williamson calls Donald John Trump (President of the United States and leader of the Republican Party... the party that's supposed to be the center-right party in America) a Socialist? I sure as hell can and if you can't, you might want to see your political doctor because you might be going blind. This is Williamson's argument for President Trump being a Socialist and he was talking about how the President talks about economics in America:

"We are a department store, and we set the price. I meet with the companies, and then I set a fair price, what I consider to be a fair price, and they can pay it, or they don’t have to pay it. They don’t have to do business with the United States, but I set a tariff on countries. … What I’m doing is I will, at a certain point in the not too distant future, I will set a fair price of tariffs for different countries. These are countries—some of them have made hundreds of billions of dollars, and some of them have made just a lot of money. Very few of them have made nothing because the United States was being ripped off by every, almost every country in the world, in the entire world. So I will set a price, and when I set the price, and I will set it fairly according to the statistics, and according to everything else...


Look, if this offends any American leftists, especially closeted Socialists... cut back on your daily capitalist coffee take by 50%. You'll relax a lot more and not be so politically oversensitive. If you want to call Trumpenomics fascist, fine. But Communists are fascists as well. 

But what Kevin Williamson is doing here and what I'm arguing as well, is this is how President Trump governs when it comes to economics: "Do things my way, or I'll bring the heavy force of the national big government, down on your ass. And I won't release my giant grip (remember, Donald Trump brags about how big his hands are) until you run your business or organization exactly the way I want you to."

And as far as Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (who perhaps might be better qualified to be Secretary of the U.S. Bankruptcy, with the "Big Beautiful Bill") essentially arguing that the Trump Administration's'/House Republican budget and tax plan "paying for itself", this is what Ederik Schneider said about that yesterday on The New Democrat: 

"So when I look at the bill, (that Donald Trump calls the Big Beautiful Bill) it takes me back to the early and mid-2000s, when you had a Republican President (in George W. Bush) and a Republican Congress. 

President Bush governed on "deficits don't matter"... his own Vice President Dick Cheney literally stated that in 2003. And he simply didn't want to cut government spending because he ran as a New Republican who cared about people, but also believed in "free markets". So as long as a Republican administration was saying "deficits don't matter", you weren't going to have a Republican Congress challenge their own President and risk their own reelection chances. 

So what the Republican Congress's of 2003-04, and 2005-06, did was to say: "We don't believe in budget cuts or tax hikes. So we're going to fund our own new budget priorities, without paying for them. And cut taxes for everyone, without paying for them. And everyone in the country will thank us for that. Well, enough people to keep us in power... 


And this is what Erik said about that yesterday: 

"As far as the "Big Beautiful Bill": the phrase "guns and butter" was used a lot in the 2000s when talking about President George W. Bush's economic and foreign policy. What that was about was the President taking us to war twice in Afghanistan and Iraq, cutting taxes by trillions of dollars twice, doubling the size of Medicare, (which is an entitlement program) and telling everyone that nobody has to pay for anything because as Vice President Dick Cheney infamously said: "Deficit don't matter". 

Well if you are familiar with the Stock Market crash of 2008, which led to the Great Recession of 2008-09, you know that deficits do matter. it keeps interest rates up, it weakens the U.S. Dollar, which makes it very difficult for anyone who isn't a millionaire or better, to borrow any money. 

The "Big Beautiful Bill", is really poorly named... unless it's the title of a political horror film and you give it a soft title like that so you don't scare the hell out of any potential viewers of it before they see the film. This is really just Donald Trump Manhattan Economics here. He personally has already bankrupt himself 6 times: why not the largest and most important economy and government in the world as well? "


Donald J. Trump really needs a professional babysitter or guardian, because he governs like a little boy. He has 1 small victory from yesterday (that the rest of the country is going to have to pay for indefinitely) and he acts like he can go back to being Crazy Don and hit an American, private, for-profit corporation (Apple) with a tariff, (which is a middle class tax hike) because they don't make all of their products in America. 

President Trump loses a couple more court decisions today and runs away to New Jersey to play golf. Which is like the kid at a convenient store, who runs out of the store with a candy bar or soda, that he didn't pay for, because he doesn't want to get into trouble. But he was elected President, twice, even though it was clear 10 years ago, not just last year that he's never been qualified to do a good job as President. And the rest of the country has to try to live with the fact that he is President again. 

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Thursday, May 22, 2025

The Washington Post: Medicaid Cuts & Trillions in Debt: What's in Donald Trump's Bill

"On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down a busy week in Washington, starting with the shocking shooting of two Israeli embassy employees. Then, the crew dives into the GOP's "big, beautiful" budget bill: What's in it, what the sticking points were, and what had to be negotiated.

Later, the crew breaks down the chaotic meeting in the Oval Office between Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – and how Trump is using Oval Office meetings to set up televised showdowns with other world leaders.

Plus, technology reporter Drew Harwell joins the show to preview Trump's morally-murky dinner with investors in his crypto meme coin." 

Source:The Washington Post with a look at South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and The MAGA Don.

From The Washington Post

From Derik Schneider earlier on The New Democrat: 

"I know I'm not making any news by saying this, but it's important and it leads to my overall point about this bill: at the end of the day, if House Republicans just had a 1 seat majority and every singe House Democrat voted no on this legislation, but every Republican voted yes, the bill would still pass. And the bill is an accomplishment for the House Republican Leadership (led by Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise) in this sense because they can say that they showed that they can govern and get their agenda passed. 

But in the broader world, the BBB is a pretty minor accomplishment because of the fallout that now awaits House Republicans going into 2026, with the increases of the national debt, deficit, and interest rates, that will affect at least 90% of the country in a negative way. And that's just the start of the fallout...


And as Ederik Schneider said: 

"So when I look at the bill, (that Donald Trump calls the Big Beautiful Bill) it takes me back to the early and mid-2000s, when you had a Republican President (in George W. Bush) and a Republican Congress. 

President Bush governed on "deficits don't matter"... his own Vice President Dick Cheney literally stated that in 2003. And he simply didn't want to cut government spending because he ran as a New Republican who cared about people, but also believed in "free markets". So as long as a Republican administration was saying "deficits don't matter", you weren't going to have a Republican Congress challenge their own President and risk their own reelection chances. 

So what the Republican Congress's of 2003-04, and 2005-06, did was to say: "We don't believe in budget cuts or tax hikes. So we're going to fund our own new budget priorities, without paying for them. And cut taxes for everyone, without paying for them. And everyone in the country will thank us for that. Well, enough people to keep us in power... 


So if you want to look at this bill from a Democratic perspective... I could do that for you and then I'll get into what I think about this legislation as well later on. 

Every single House Democrat did their jobs here. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Minority Whip Katherine Clark got 214 no votes from their own caucus, in a bill that does some have some real middle class tax cuts in it, like no taxes on tips and a few other things. But there's at least 1 middle class tax hike in it (that I've found so far) dealing with the Child Tax Credit. And that's important and because as the Trump Administration gets ready to borrow trillions of more dollars, that the House has just approved, and we'll see what the Senate does, but if they pass something similar here, that's a great issue for Congressional Democrats next year. 

So think about this: while interest rates remain high, while the Stock Market continues to struggle, while people on Medicaid are losing that coverage, including seniors, while President Trump's own voters lose their Medicaid, Food Stamps, and disaster relief... the deficit that's already approaching $2T, the economy continues to struggle because of the Trump trade war, House and Senate Democrats will have a major opportunity to start building their Blue Wave. Which the Midwest would be a major factor for House Democrats, if this wave happens.

When I'm talking about a Blue Wave, I'm not just winning back New York and New Jersey for the House, but making real plays for the Senate in North Carolina, Maine, and even Iowa... 3 states that depend on Medicaid, Food Stamps, and disaster relief... states that can't afford to see their cost of livings go up. And maybe even Louisiana and Texas, especially if Senators Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn get primaried out and replaced by MAGA candidates, who would have to run statewide in those 2 states. 

As far as the "Big Beautiful Bill": the phrase "guns and butter" was used a lot in the 2000s when talking about President George W. Bush's economic and foreign policy. What that was about was the President taking us to war twice in Afghanistan and Iraq, cutting taxes by trillions of dollars twice, doubling the size of Medicare, (which is an entitlement program) and telling everyone that nobody has to pay for anything because as Vice President Dick Cheney infamously said: "Deficit don't matter". 

Well if you are familiar with the Stock Market crash of 2008, which led to the Great Recession of 2008-09, you know that deficits do matter. it keeps interest rates up, it weakens the U.S. Dollar, which makes it very difficult for anyone who isn't a millionaire or better, to borrow any money. 

The "Big Beautiful Bill", is really poorly named... unless it's the title of a political horror film and you give it a soft title like that so you don't scare the hell out of any potential viewers of it before they see the film. This is really just Donald Trump Manhattan Economics here. He personally has already bankrupt himself 6 times: why not the largest and most important economy and government in the world as well? 

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Ron Paul Liberty Report: Prosperity Or Poverty House Hands Donald Trump His 'Big Beautiful Bill'

"The House narrowly approved President Trump's "big beautiful bill" earlier today, with two Republicans dissenting. Will this bill usher in a new era of prosperity...or will it drown the country in unmanageable debt?" 

Source:Ron Paul Liberty Report with a look at The MAGA Don.

From the Ron Paul Liberty Report

From Derik Schneider earlier on The New Democrat: 

"I know I'm not making any news by saying this, but it's important and it leads to my overall point about this bill: at the end of the day, if House Republicans just had a 1 seat majority and every singe House Democrat voted no on this legislation, but every Republican voted yes, the bill would still pass. And the bill is an accomplishment for the House Republican Leadership (led by Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise) in this sense because they can say that they showed that they can govern and get their agenda passed. 

But in the broader world, the BBB is a pretty minor accomplishment because of the fallout that now awaits House Republicans going into 2026, with the increases of the national debt, deficit, and interest rates, that will affect at least 90% of the country in a negative way. And that's just the start of the fallout...


So when I look at the bill, (that Donald Trump calls the Big Beautiful Bill) it takes me back to the early and mid-2000s, when you had a Republican President (in George W. Bush) and a Republican Congress. 

President Bush governed on "deficits don't matter"... his own Vice President Dick Cheney literally stated that in 2003. And he simply didn't want to cut government spending because he ran as a New Republican who cared about people, but also believed in "free markets". So as long as a Republican administration was saying "deficits don't matter", you weren't going to have a Republican Congress challenge their own President and risk their own reelection chances. 

So what the Republican Congress's of 2003-04, and 2005-06, did was to say: "We don't believe in budget cuts or tax hikes. So we're going to fund our own new budget priorities, without paying for them. And cut taxes for everyone, without paying for them. And everyone in the country will thank us for that. Well, enough people to keep us in power". 

Now Donald J. Trump and George W. Bush, are obviously different men and politicians. Which is as newsworthy as saying people in Wisconsin can expect cold weather in January. But 1 thing they have in common is "deficits don't matter". Just pass your own conservative budget priorities, but don't pay for them. And cut taxes for everyone and let future government's (administration's and Congress's) figure out how to pay for the credit card bills that G,W. Bush and DJT left for them. They're like an over-spoiled teenage daughter or trophy wife, who is given an allowance and their own credit card, by their daddy or sugar daddy, that is paid for by their daddy or sugar daddy.

It's hard to imagine how government can be any more fiscally irresponsible, than G.W. Bush and DJT, when it comes to government. But they were both elected President twice. And hopefully you don't need me to remind you that elections have consequences. In this case, really bad fiscal and economic consequences, that future administration's and Congress's are going to have to pay for, that the people are going to have to pay for now.  

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Robert Reich: What You Need To Share About The "One Big Beautiful" Ugly Horrible Bill

"The old professor in me thinks the best way to convey to you how utterly awful the so-called “one big beautiful bill” passed by the House last night actually is would be to give you this short ten-question exam. (Answers are in parenthesis, but first try to answer without looking at them.)

1. Does the House’s “one big beautiful bill” cut Medicare? (Answer: Yes, by an estimated $500 billion.)

2. Because the bill cuts Medicaid, how many Americans are expected to lose Medicaid coverage? (At least 8.6 million.)

3. Will the tax cut in the bill benefit the rich or the poor or everyone?(Overwhelmingly, the rich.)

4. How much will the top 0.1 percent of earners stand to gain from it? (Nearly $390,000 per year).

5. If you figure in the benefit cuts and the tax cuts, will Americans making between about $17,000 and $51,000 gain or lose? (They’ll lose about $700 a year).

6. How about Americans with incomes less than $17,000? (They’ll lose more than $1,000 per year on average).

7. How much will the bill add to the federal debt? ($3.8 trillion over 10 years.)

8. Who will pay the interest on this extra debt? (All of us, in both our tax payments and higher interest rates for mortgages, car loans, and all other longer-term borrowing.)

9. Who collects this interest? (People who lend to the U.S. government, 70 percent of whom are American and most of whom are wealthy.)

10. Bonus question: Is the $400 million airplane from Qatar a gift to the United States for every future president to use, or a gift to Trump for his own personal use? (It’s a personal gift because he’ll get to use it after he leaves the presidency.)

Most Americans are strongly opposed to all of these things, according to polls. But if you knew the answers to these ten questions, you’re likely to be in a very tiny minority. That’s because of (1) distortions and cover-ups emanating from Trump and magnified by Fox News and other rightwing outlets. (2) A public that’s overwhelmed with the blitzkrieg of everything Trump is doing, and can’t focus on this. (3) Outright silencing of many in the media who fear retaliation from the Trump regime if they reveal things that Trump doesn’t want revealed.

Please do your part: Share this as widely as possible."

Source:Robert Reich on Facebook.

From Robert Reich

From CBS News: 

"The House passed the GOP budget bill early Thursday morning by a narrow margin after last-minute changes were made to satisfy Republican holdouts. CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns joins with more." 

Source:CBS News with a look at Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (MAGA, Shreveport, Louisiana)

From CBS News

I know I'm not making any news by saying this, but it's important and it leads to my overall point about this bill: at the end of the day, if House Republicans just had a 1 seat majority and every singe House Democrat voted no on this legislation, but every Republican voted yes, the bill would still pass. And the bill is an accomplishment for the House Republican Leadership (led by Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise) in this sense because they can say that they showed that they can govern and get their agenda passed. 

But in the broader world, the BBB is a pretty minor accomplishment because of the fallout that now awaits House Republicans going into 2026, with the increases of the national debt, deficit, and interest rates, that will affect at least 90% of the country in a negative way. And that's just the start of the fallout. 

So why is the BBB a problem for House Republicans and perhaps Senate Republicans as well? 

1. The national Republican Party, (I believe, at least) is in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation: they pass this very unpopular bill, that literally raises taxes on the middle class by limiting the Child Tax Credit, and cuts Medicaid funding as well, which affects MAGA's own voters in rural communities, which goes on top of the FEMA cuts that these voters are already having to live with... the House is now probably gone for the Republicans next year. And now we're just talking about how many seats Democrats will pick up: will it be 10, (which might be a small victory for House Republicans) or could be 15, 20, 25, and perhaps the Senate is in play as well, if Democrats put a wave together next year. 

2. But if Congressional Republicans (House & Senate) weren't able  to pass anything here, (for whatever the reasons) it just backs up 1 of the Democratic arguments that Republicans don't know how to govern... at least by themselves. And Independents would turn on them because of the gridlock and the fact that the Republican Party was completely in charge of the Federal Government the last 2 years. And MAGA would stay home on Election Day because the Republicans didn't do anything for them. 

It's obvious why Robert Reich doesn't like this bill. Show me a Socialist who's ever supported any tax relief for anybody and I'll show my ocean beachfront property in Wyoming, with a clear view of Russia from there. Show me government budget cuts that aren't related to defense, intelligence, and law enforcement that any Socialist has ever supported, I'll sell you my winter ski resort in Miami Beach. But if Democrats play this right, (big if) they now have 3 key issues, just on the economy that they can use to create their Blue Wave next year, that are now in the BBB: 

Middle class tax hikes

Health care cuts to small towns and rural communities

And cuts to disaster relief that primarily affects small towns and rural communities. 

And this is how Democrats go not from winning a bare majority in the House next year, but instead 20 seats, perhaps more than that in the House and have a real shot of winning back the Senate as well, because they'll be able to not just win everywhere in the Northeast, but now will be able to win back the Midwest as well, because of the middle class cuts in the BBB. 

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Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Jonah Goldberg: In Praise of Hippie Punching

"I’m going through one of these moments in which a lot of people have decided that they know my motives better than I do. We don’t need to get into the weeds on that (spoiler: you don’t). But it does make me feel obliged to explain my motives upfront. I want the Democratic Party to get its act together for a few reasons. For starters, it’d be good for America. Second, it’d be good for the Republican Party. Last, if the Republican Party doesn’t get its act together and instead keeps going in a statist, protectionist, price-fixing, big spending, direction with an utterly amoral approach to foreign policy, it’d be good if the Democratic Party offered a (better) alternative to that. 

So, here’s what I think the Democratic Party needs to do: Punch a whole lotta of hippies. 

From what I can tell, the phrase hippie punching emerged about 15 years ago, in the last days of the Golden Age of the lefty blogosphere. It was used in a pejorative way to describe the way moderates or centrists demonstrated they weren’t too radical. I think it’s a pretty brilliant phrase, in part because it’s great spin. The image of a harmless hippie, maybe holding a “Vegetable Rights and Peace!” sign, getting unfairly clobbered in the mug puts the villainy on the puncher. “Hey, man, what did you do that for?”

Phrasing like “Bolshevik smacking,” “Whackjob whacking,” or “Radical slapping” takes away some of the suggestion that it’s unfair and unprovoked to attack the lefty fringe of the party. But “hippie punching”? That’s sort of like “Amish kicking.”

Of course, this is wrong on a whole bunch of levels. For starters, we’re not talking about literal violence—I’m against literal punching in politics generally—we’re talking about arguments and, well, politics. Second, the lefty fringe of the Democratic Party punches rightward all the time (in much the same way the righty fringe of the GOP punches leftward). I mean Bernie Sanders and AOC denounce the dwindling band of moderates in the Democratic Party whenever it suits them. This dynamic is not new; it’s the way the parties have worked at least for a century. 

One last point on the wrongness of the alleged wrongness of hippie-punching: Fairness is overrated in politics. Or rather, fairness is misapplied in all sorts of contexts. If, for example, a Democrat thinks the government should nationalize the health care industry root and branch, it’s not “unfair” for another Democrat to say, “I disagree. I think that guy is nuts. And, I don’t think my party should have anything to do with such nuttery.” Whether it’s good politics to draw such distinctions is a prudential question. And, in this moment, I think it’s pretty obvious that the Democratic Party needs someone to do a whole lotta punching leftward...

Source:The Dispatch co-founder Jonah Goldberg.

From The Dispatch

I sort of got into what Jonah Goldberg was talking about myself, about people that I sort of call Hipster Democrats, back in April: 

"I think especially in politics and government when someone tries to look or seem "cool'... to "go viral" on social media, they look like the 45-50 year old dad, who has 3 kids, who is bored with himself and his life, so he decides the way to "fix his life" is to:

grow a goatee, 

wear their heir back with an entire bottle of gel, everyday  

speaks exclusively in pop culture references and catch phrases

is always seen staring at his phone and with a coffee cup, etc... they don't look real. They look like someone who is suffering through a middle age, pop culture crisis. They look like they're trying to be something that they're not...


And as Ederik Schneider said about this a couple weeks ago: 

"And I agree with the point that both Matt Lewis and Rik Schneider we're making. I think the left-wing of the Democratic Party, looks like a real-life, Hollywood political film, or "or reality TV show", where everyone else is trying to "out viral" the other person and use that to jumpstart whatever career that they want to have for themselves. 

But could you imagine if Socialists, even in the Democratic Party ever came to power in America? I mean their whole lifestyle, their culture, their way of life, is dependent and completely subsidized by the American capitalist and liberal democratic system. And most of them know that. Most of these folks are educated. Most of these folks make good livings for themselves, even millionaires. 

Representative Alexandria O. Cortez couldn't even afford to pay her own rent in Washington, when she moved here in 2019. Now she's worth $30 million dollars. That's what can happen to you become famous and have a large following of young hipsters, who think you are the coolest thing since skinny jeans and smartphones and you write a book or 2. 

So 1, I don't see Socialists ever coming to power in America, even if they're "Democrats". Because once people start thinking about what it would mean to have a socialist government in America, voters stop being impressed by all the hipster catch phrases and other fashion statements that these folks make and start thinking about how much a socialist government would cost them. 

And 2, the left-wing in America, when the rubber meets the road, when everyone is at the starting gate, when the 2 warriors meet in the ring, etc... when it's time to get down and do some business... they don't want a socialist government either, because that would destroy their way of life and ability to joy life and afford all the high-end things that consumes them. But it's cool to sound like a militant hipster, (especially with young people) who wants to "take down the man" and wipeout poverty, disease, bigotry, etc. But when it gets down to how you do those things and how you pay for them, not even Socialists are interested in doing that in America." 


Bill Maher talked about what Jonah Goldberg is talking about here, but referring to Occupy Wall Street, which was a very young, Millennial, left-wing, hippie/hipster, political movement, back in 2011-12. But he didn't call them Hippies: 

"Yes, they're peeing outdoors and having sex in sleeping bags, or, as Bristol Palin calls it, 'dating,' but they're not hippies," Maher said on Real Time Friday. "The hippies are all gone."


Yes, anytime either of the 2 major political parties have a fringe in it, (or in this case both the Democrats and Republicans) that can obviously pose as a problem... especially when the fringe of 1 of the parties wins The White House and controls both chambers of Congress. Well, The White House and House. The Senate is run by Majority Leader John Thune... and he really isn't anyone's definition of a radical... except for course for the far-left of the Democratic Party. 

But have 2 points here: 

1. The reason why both major parties have their own fringes, is because of the two-party system. And I'm saying this as a lifelong Democrat, who comes from a German-American Democratic family, in Maryland. Which obviously isn't unusual in this state.

I'm not saying I want a parliamentary, social democratic, form of government, because I don't. But you let the Green Party have universal ballot and polling access, the Greens in the Democratic Party, would probably move over to the Green Party. 

There isn't a far-right, third party in America, because all the far-rightists are in the Republican Party right now. The Republican (whether this was intelligent or not) consolidated the entire right wing (center to far-right) in the Republican Party. Some Socialists are Democrats, but a lot of them are in the Green Party, or other far-left third parties. 

2. As I talked about last month and as Ederik Schneider talked about here 2 weeks ago, we actually don't see the left-wing of the Democratic Party as a political movement. More like cultural movement of very young hipsters, (or Hippies) who think it's cool to look and sound antiestablishment, even in the Democratic Party. Not that different from what was going on in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the Democratic Party, with the original New Left. But most of those folks were Boomers, who grew up, got lives, and mainstreamed themselves in American society. 

And you go up almost 15 years from 2011, a lot of Millennials are doing the same thing as the Boomers did. A lot of them, as well as even some Gen-Y people, voted for Donald Trump in all 3 elections. 

And to remind you of what Ederik said 2 weeks ago: 

"So 1, I don't see Socialists ever coming to power in America, even if they're "Democrats". Because once people start thinking about what it would mean to have a socialist government in America, voters stop being impressed by all the hipster catch phrases and other fashion statements that these folks make and start thinking about how much a socialist government would cost them...

Republicans won't like hearing this, including mainstream Republicans, (you know, the Conservatives) but 1 of the major differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party... the adults don't sit at the table in the Democratic Party. They own the table and the kids sit in the other room... except when the adults need their votes for something. 

The reason why "The Squad" and other left-wing Democrats, are always struggling to even get a major committee assignment, especially in the House, because they're seen as too radical and the House Democratic Leadership doesn't want to be put on the record speaking about their interesting (to be nice) statements, or actions that they take. Most left-wing Democrats can't get elected anywhere statewide in this country. Bernie and Liz are the exceptions to that in Vermont and Massachusetts. But that's out of 100 U.S. Senators in Congress. And none of these left-wingers are governors, either.  

And as The New Democrat has said before, as well... 2025-26 is not about rebranding the image of the Democratic Party. Each Democrat running for elected office in this cycle, will control whatever their "brand" might be for that election. This cycle is about reminding voters that we still have a two-party system and why Republicans shouldn't be allowed to have a unified government, with almost no political checks on their power, going into 2027. 

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John F. Kennedy Liberal Democrat

John F. Kennedy Liberal Democrat
Source: U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy in 1960